GOVERNOR HOGAN: Thank you all for joining us. First of all, I just want to thank the presiding officers, the legislators on both sides of the aisle for all of their hard work and their bipartisan cooperation over the past 90 days. I think it was a very successful session. We enacted the largest tax cut in state history, $1.45 billion in relief for struggling Maryland families and small businesses, emergency COVID relief programs, enacted a budget that’s fiscally responsible, record funding for our schools for the 7th year in a row, major investments in broadband and workforce development.
So today I’m very pleased to be signing with the presiding officers 66 bills into law, legislation that will preserve and expand telehealth and mental health services across the state, legislation to bring accountability and oversight to the Maryland environmental service to increase high speed internet access all across the state.
I think we’re all sending a strong and clear message that we can, while we may have disagreements on certain issues, we can work together in a bipartisan way for the people of Maryland and deliver real results. So I just want to thank my partners in government and great job over the past 90 days. We look forward to continuing to work together.
Is that the way it works? The speaker says the President goes next.
PRESIDENT FERGUSON: Thank you, Governor. This was a historic victorious session in many, many, many ways. We showed Marylanders that when it matters most, we come together and solve problems. From the very beginning, we started the session by making sure we could provide relief and historic funding to Marylanders who needed it most. The House, the Senate, and the administration coming together to truly solve Maryland’s challenges.
Moving forward we passed the budget that the Governor mentioned was economically sustainable not only for this year but for the next 2 years we will have a structurally balanced budget. This will make Maryland Stronger overall. We also had a historic stimulus. First time of we had a $3.9 billion supplemental budget, which we are thankful to the Biden Administration, the folks in Congress, for bringing home money that Marylanders need to create jobs, to build the future, and to make sure that we are investing in our economy in a way that we can create jobs today to get Maryland building back stronger.
We will be signing some great bills today. A special shoutout to our chairwoman, Delores Kelly, who will be signing a bill that Mr. Lomax actually testified for last year and after the hearing had a cardiac event in the Senate building. This was my first year as a presiding officer, and heard about it and went to go visit him in the hospital. He was semi lucid, but he did say, please try to get that bill done. But of course with the pandemic, it was one of the bills that didn’t quite make it across the finish line last year. But this year I’m so honored and thankful to the Governor and the House and my colleagues in the Senate that we’ll be signing that bill into law today. So it was a year late, pandemic delayed, but this will be a very big victory.
We’re also going to be signing a bill in honor of Raskin’s son, using our system for Marylanders most in need. We have seen the emotional toll stricken on individuals during this pandemic given this situation. And this is going to be a bill honoring Jamie Raskin’s son who strategically passed away at the beginning of 2021. In his honor, I feel very grateful to be here to be able to sign it into law.
The Governor mentioned telehealth and reforms for Maryland environmental service.
And one final shoutout to senator Alfred with bills for statewide broadband. We worked very closely with Governor Hogan and his administration, and as a result of the stimulus dollars, we put in $300 million to expand broadband across the state. Here in the state of Maryland, we come together to solve problems. We are going to treat broadband like a utility, like electricity and roads, for the 21st century, when we need access to information.
A special shoutout also to Speaker Mitchell, the Governor’s right hand throughout and helped us navigate many, many challenging issues with a very historic time. So I thank the Governor for passing this. This was a really great year, and I feel honored to be in this position to be able to work with my partners in government so that we can solve problems for Marylanders.
Madam Speaker?
SPEAKER JONES: Thank you.
First of all, I thank the Senate President and the Governor for their cooperation and work. This session was unlike any other, and I believe that together we achieved more than any of us expected. I’m proud that we’re able to do the people’s work while keeping our members, staff, and public safe. I want to thank everyone who helped make that possible. It didn’t happen by accident.
The bills we’re signing today are reflective of our priorities throughout the session. Healthcare, infrastructure, promoting equity, providing justice and helping businesses and families survive the pandemic. I believe this session is one that every Marylander can be proud of. We championed causes and passed meaningful policy across the political spectrum. It will go down as one of the most consequential sessions of the last 20 years.
Let’s get these bills signed.
So today I’m very pleased to be signing with the presiding officers 66 bills into law, legislation that will preserve and expand telehealth and mental health services across the state, legislation to bring accountability and oversight to the Maryland environmental service to increase high speed internet access all across the state.
I think we’re all sending a strong and clear message that we can, while we may have disagreements on certain issues, we can work together in a bipartisan way for the people of Maryland and deliver real results. So I just want to thank my partners in government and great job over the past 90 days. We look forward to continuing to work together.
Is that the way it works? The speaker says the President goes next.
PRESIDENT FERGUSON: Thank you, Governor. This was a historic victorious session in many, many, many ways. We showed Marylanders that when it matters most, we come together and solve problems. From the very beginning, we started the session by making sure we could provide relief and historic funding to Marylanders who needed it most. The House, the Senate, and the administration coming together to truly solve Maryland’s challenges.
Moving forward we passed the budget that the Governor mentioned was economically sustainable not only for this year but for the next 2 years we will have a structurally balanced budget. This will make Maryland Stronger overall. We also had a historic stimulus. First time of we had a $3.9 billion supplemental budget, which we are thankful to the Biden Administration, the folks in Congress, for bringing home money that Marylanders need to create jobs, to build the future, and to make sure that we are investing in our economy in a way that we can create jobs today to get Maryland building back stronger.
We will be signing some great bills today. A special shoutout to our chairwoman, Delores Kelly, who will be signing a bill that Mr. Lomax actually testified for last year and after the hearing had a cardiac event in the Senate building. This was my first year as a presiding officer, and heard about it and went to go visit him in the hospital. He was semi lucid, but he did say, please try to get that bill done. But of course with the pandemic, it was one of the bills that didn’t quite make it across the finish line last year. But this year I’m so honored and thankful to the Governor and the House and my colleagues in the Senate that we’ll be signing that bill into law today. So it was a year late, pandemic delayed, but this will be a very big victory.
We’re also going to be signing a bill in honor of Raskin’s son, using our system for Marylanders most in need. We have seen the emotional toll stricken on individuals during this pandemic given this situation. And this is going to be a bill honoring Jamie Raskin’s son who strategically passed away at the beginning of 2021. In his honor, I feel very grateful to be here to be able to sign it into law.
The Governor mentioned telehealth and reforms for Maryland environmental service.
And one final shoutout to senator Alfred with bills for statewide broadband. We worked very closely with Governor Hogan and his administration, and as a result of the stimulus dollars, we put in $300 million to expand broadband across the state. Here in the state of Maryland, we come together to solve problems. We are going to treat broadband like a utility, like electricity and roads, for the 21st century, when we need access to information.
A special shoutout also to Speaker Mitchell, the Governor’s right hand throughout and helped us navigate many, many challenging issues with a very historic time. So I thank the Governor for passing this. This was a really great year, and I feel honored to be in this position to be able to work with my partners in government so that we can solve problems for Marylanders.
Madam Speaker?
SPEAKER JONES: Thank you.
First of all, I thank the Senate President and the Governor for their cooperation and work. This session was unlike any other, and I believe that together we achieved more than any of us expected. I’m proud that we’re able to do the people’s work while keeping our members, staff, and public safe. I want to thank everyone who helped make that possible. It didn’t happen by accident.
The bills we’re signing today are reflective of our priorities throughout the session. Healthcare, infrastructure, promoting equity, providing justice and helping businesses and families survive the pandemic. I believe this session is one that every Marylander can be proud of. We championed causes and passed meaningful policy across the political spectrum. It will go down as one of the most consequential sessions of the last 20 years.
Let’s get these bills signed.